How to dye rice naturally

Well it’s not really “dyeing” rice, more like how to change the color of rice for your bento.Â I use these methods a lot to make Totoro, or backgrounds with rice. It’s not much, but since rice is white, changing the color of rice can make a quite difference in your bento.

I would have never thought to add ketchup to yellow rice. I always just put the turmeric in with the rice when I cook it, and even brown rice turns bright yellow.

Obviously this isn’t convenient if you only want a little yellow rice, but something like 1/4-1/2 teaspoon per cup of (uncooked) rice seems to work well… I forget the exact amounts. Turmeric by itself isn’t very flavorful, either, which can be good or bad.

Last night I used beet juice to dye the rice pink for little piggies. It turned out perfect. I also bought chlorophyll at the local health food store. I’ll let you know if it makes a pretty green. Purple can be made with blackberry or blueberry juice. My children don’t tolerate artificial coloring so I’ve had to get creative.